North Korea’s apparent loss of one its submarines this week is a stark reminder that operating in the undersea domain is fraught with danger. Since the Second World War, the United States, Russia and China—and a host of other nations—have lost vessels and their crews to accidents. Operating submarines is a risky business under…
Tag: Military History
Military Weapons From the Past: The Confederate Cofer Revolver
T.W. Cofer was a Virginian gunsmith who made revolvers for the Confederate cause during the Civil War – although he never had a formal contract with the CSA. His pistols were sold privately to individual soldiers, and in at least one case bought in bulk by a unit commander. One thing that makes Cofer stand…
Military Weapons from the Past: Americas First Rolling Armored “Shotgun”
A weird little Marine Corps tank blasted North Vietnamese troops Designed and built in a farm tractor factory and armed with six 106-millimeter recoilless rifles, the M-50A1 Ontos was rejected by the Army and only purchased in small numbers by the Marine Corps. Years later in Vietnam, the USMC trained infantry riflemen to drive these…
Brush-Up on Your History: America’s Secret War Plan to Invade Canada
The end of a war only rarely settles the central questions that started the conflict. Indeed, many wars do not “end” in the traditional sense. World War II, for example, stretched on for years in parts of Eastern Europe and the Asia-Pacific. Even as the guns fell silent along the Western Front in 1918, the…
World War Two History: Remembering Stalin as well as Hitler
When I’ve finished occupying the Soviet Union,” quipped a relaxed Adolf Hitler at dinner one night in 1941, “I’ll put that man Stalin back in charge. He’s the only person who knows how to deal with Russians.” Stalin was the biggest murderer of modern history – and maybe in of all mankind’s past. His number…
Brush-Up on Your History: Unhinged! 10 of History’s “Craziest” Military Commanders
“Consider some of these ‘mad’ commanders from the pages of military history.” GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON ONCE DESCRIBED HIMSELF AS the best “ass-kicker in the United States Army.” It’s a claim that’s not without merit. In just nine short months beginning in July of 1944, the flamboyant four-star led his Third Army half way across…
Military History: P-51 Makes Ass-Kicking Comeback in Korea
The public mostly remembers the North American P-51 Mustang as the fighter plane that protected Allied bombers over Germany and Japan during World War II. Overshadowed by newer jet fighters by the time war broke out in Korea in 1950, the re-designated F-51’s relative technological backwardness became a qualified blessing for close air support…
6 Military Stereotypes that are Just Plain WRONG and 4 Stereotypes that are just RIGHT
I found this article amusing and at the same time right on the money…If you have ever served I think you will too. -SF While there are a number of military stereotypes that are true, most of them are completely false. The military is full of stereotypes. Contemporary perceptions of the average soldier or veteran…
Military History: Marine Corp General James Mattis, “Nothing New Under the Sun…”
In 2013 General James N. Mattis retired after a 41-year Marine Corps career that included field commands in the Persian Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan. In the theater of combat the hard-charging general was known by the call sign “Chaos.” But it was his respect for history and studious commitment to training in strategy and…
Military History: How Stealth was Baptized by Fire During Desert Storm 25 Years Ago
One of the most spellbinding military capabilities used 25 years ago during the Operation Desert Storm was stealth technology. Despite many billions of dollars invested, until that point it had never been proven in actual combat on a large scale. This would change in the opening moments of the conflict as F-117s raided Baghdad with…